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In this article we reflect on the challenges we have encountered regarding our teaching and learning practices as adult educators during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through narrative reflections, we grapple with this rapidly changing teaching and learning environment. Our collection of adult and post-secondary programmes were designed to be delivered in an online classroom mode and traditionally have been offered with limited face-to-face interactions. Given this circumstance, we felt equipped and ready to confront the move to remote teaching. As the pandemic weeks turned into months, we found ourselves needing support from each other because of unprecedented pedagogical challenges. We asked ourselves the following fundamental question: how do we purposefully adapt our teaching and learning in a fluctuating, fluid, and stressful environment? We provide insights into our experiences and strategies, concluding that, ultimately, we turned to educator and learner agency as a foundational pedagogical tool. Analysis revealed three overarching themes embedded within educator and learner agency which included retrospective reconstruction when assessing curriculum, reciprocal anxieties when supporting personalised learning environments, and mental preparation versus provision when engaging overloaded learners.

This article describes a self-study inquiry project designed and conducted by a self-study group at a Faculty of Education in an Atlantic Canadian University. The seven-member group engaged in a collaborative self-study inquiry while adopting Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles in their teacher education practices and documented their professional learning. This yearlong self-study inquiry project encompassed several data collection methods to examine inclusive practices of self-study group members, including personal reflections, minutes of weekly meetings, artifacts, and field notes. This article focuses on how UDL provided a means for three group members to critically examine their inclusive practices at the beginning, during, and following the collaborative self-study inquiry. Using a case study methodology, self-study cases of these three faculty members--Angela, Ryan, and Sarah (Pseudonyms)--were developed. The cases reported on the journey of these faculty members in improving their inclusive practice through their engagement in self-study.

Student services professionals have emerged as significant supportive collaborators in the construction of environments that encourage student success within Canadian post-secondary education (Hardy-Cox & Strange, 2010). In Canada, literature pertaining to student services is evolving and research from other contexts is therefore often used to inform student affairs practices in this context. Yet, without a comprehensive understanding of research that is focused on Canadian student services specifically, those working in post-secondary education are left with a scope of understanding that may not always apply to the unique contexts in which they work. The purpose of this research study is to begin mapping the landscape of research on Canadian student services. We review articles pertaining to student success, the student experience, and student services, that have been published in national ("Canadian Journal of Higher Education") and international ("Journal of College Student Development"; "Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory and Practice"; Journal of College Student Psychotherapy"; "Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice"; and "Student Success") student services and post-secondary education journals. This scoping review documents Canadian academic research published within the student services field and describes contributing authors and their affiliations, graduate student and post-doctoral fellow involvement, provincial and territorial research clusters, research movements over the decades, institutional research contexts, and research participants' level of education and communities/populations, as well as contextual trends and themes. [Publication year printed on PDF is incorrect. This article was published in 2021.]

A narrative approach was adopted to explore the experiences of 13 women who pursued academic careers. Analysis of the personal reflective narratives uncovered themes common to the participants, also the authors of this study, which focused on striving to have work-life balance, personal and professional costs associated with being unwell, and the impact of academic work on families. Findings highlighted suggestions for being well in academia such as choose to engage in work and leisure activities that are enjoyable and maintain relationships. Suggestions for universities included: provide clear promotion and tenure processes, examine workload expectations, promote wellness, and facilitate mentorship.

Much of empirical research on public opinion is dominated by a focus on individual-level determinants of support for, or opposition to, the European Union, missing the heterogeneity that lies within and between societies. Our article aims to understand whether national publics are increasingly heterogeneous in their opinions towards Europe, and if so, how this heterogeneity manifests itself. To do so, we rely on a Eurobarometer trend file containing data on the 28 member states between 1994 and 2019. The results show that the degree of popular dissensus over European Union integration has gone deeper since the Maastricht Treaty and reached a peak during the years of the Great Recession (2010 to 2013). The study also demonstrates that the public opinion dynamics triggering heterogeneity vary across clusters of European Union member states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our group of early- and mid-career women faculty members in a mid-sized Canadian university examined the peer review process and our experiences of being reviewed. Using post-structural feminist literature, we theorised how subjectivities are shaped by the pressures of neoliberal incursions into university work. The impact of peer review can be severe and feel highly personal. The peer review system contains assumptions that create conditions for misuse: that reviewers have expertise and that notions of quality scholarly work are shared; that they will be supportive and intellectually ethical; and that they will encourage innovation. We engaged with what it feels like to be reviewed through using collaborative autoethnography as a methodology, and narrative and poetic inquiry as data as well as methods of analysis. We found that how a writer received a review depended on the amount of respect and collegiality in the reviewer's language. Uninformed critical review comments appeared to be particularly damaging. We also found the obscure nature of the process meant that misunderstandings characterised our experiences. Many of us suffered feelings of powerlessness, a homogenisation of writing style, and a decrease in creativity. However, we also found solace and agency in sharing our stories. We shared our experiences within a relational holding space drawing on an ethic of care where well-being flourished, and in which there was an equality of respect, dignity, and mutual concern. We argue this perspective has potential to be applied more broadly to review processes.

Communities of practice, based on the work of Etienne Wenger, is being adopted as a framework in higher education to facilitate and foster professional learning. This article describes the emergence and cultivation of a university community of practice. Based on a desire to enhance our work as teacher educators and the learning experiences of our students, Karen, the first author, invited faculty to become part of a self-study group in a faculty of education. We remained a fluid entity for almost two years. Eventually, we evolved into a core group of seven faculty who were interested in conceptualizing and implementing a shared self-study inquiry. Data collection methods and sources included audio recordings of weekly meetings, collaborative reflections, meeting minutes, and personal journal reflection. Outcomes report on the evolution and functioning of the self-study group over an 18-month period. Principles for cultivating a community of practice are used to retroactively reflect on the successes and tensions the group experienced, group dynamics, group leadership, the nature of collaboration, individual and group learning, and strategies used to foster productive community functioning.

GABAergic cortical interneurons, derived from the embryonic medial and caudal ganglionic eminences (MGE and CGE), are functionally and morphologically diverse. Inroads have been made in understanding the roles of distinct cortical interneuron subgroups, however, there are still many mechanisms to be worked out that may contribute to the development and maturation of different types of GABAergic cells. Moreover, altered GABAergic signaling may contribute to phenotypes of autism, schizophrenia and epilepsy. Specific Cre-driver lines have begun to parcel out the functions of unique interneuron subgroups. Despite the advances in mouse models, it is often difficult to efficiently study GABAergic cortical interneuron progenitors with molecular approaches in vivo. One important technique used to study the cell autonomous programming of these cells is transplantation of MGE cells into host cortices. These transplanted cells migrate extensively, differentiate, and functionally integrate. In addition, MGE cells can be efficiently transduced with lentivirus immediately prior to transplantation, allowing for a multitude of molecular approaches. Here we detail a protocol to efficiently transduce MGE cells before transplantation for in vivo analysis, using available Cre-driver lines and Cre-dependent expression vectors. This approach is advantageous because it combines precise genetic manipulation with the ability of these cells to disperse after transplantation, permitting greater cell-type specific resolution in vivo.

Excitatory and inhibitory balance of neuronal network activity is essential for normal brain function and may be of particular importance to memory. Apolipoprotein (apo) E4 and amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides, two major players in Alzheimer's disease (AD), cause inhibitory interneuron impairments and aberrant neuronal activity in the hippocampal dentate gyrus in AD-related mouse models and humans, leading to learning and memory deficits. To determine whether replacing the lost or impaired interneurons rescues neuronal signaling and behavioral deficits, we transplanted embryonic interneuron progenitors into the hippocampal hilus of aged apoE4 knock-in mice without or with Aβ accumulation. In both conditions, the transplanted cells developed into mature interneurons, functionally integrated into the hippocampal circuitry, and restored normal learning and memory. Thus, restricted hilar transplantation of inhibitory interneurons restores normal cognitive function in two widely used AD-related mouse models, highlighting the importance of interneuron impairments in AD pathogenesis and the potential of cell replacement therapy for AD. More broadly, it demonstrates that excitatory and inhibitory balance are crucial for learning and memory, and suggests an avenue for investigating the processes of learning and memory and their alterations in healthy aging and diseases.

This research explores links between tertiary education institutions and between tertiary education and the labour market as determinants of provincial and national transition patterns in Canada. The study consists of a provincial analysis that maps the typology of transition systems across Canada's devolved federated tertiary education structure. The results show that, nationally: the links between education and work are relatively loose aside from regulated occupations; there is an emphasis on general education; and qualifications are used as a screen for entry to the labour market. However, while Canada can be broadly understood as a liberal market economy, there is provincial diversity within the nation; and there are varying logics for the development of skill, deployment of labour, and relations between institutions. The institutional and policy frameworks, structure of jobs, and formation of skill in Canada's largest provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec reveal diverse characteristics of transition systems. However, despite internal differentiation in the value of vocational education, variations at the provincial level have not been enough to shift the federal pattern as a whole. Instead, in Canada vocational education is generally stigmatised and viewed as signalling low ability and motivation.

Utilizing an ecological model as a framework, we analyze the role of peers as connectors between an array of microsystems within a student's post-secondary experience. We examine data from 128 student focus group participants from four colleges and eight universities in Ontario, Canada and conclude that peer interactions, both formal and informal, are critical in supporting student success. Respondents articulated that their peers connected them with resources and opportunities on campus, served as coaches and confidantes, co-constructed the environment to meet student needs and served as role models who they wished to copy or emulate.

In its earliest form, Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) focused on recruiting students, but soon included a focus on student success, defined in terms of retention and graduation. Several researchers have noted that developing effective student services, as well as establishing strong lines of communications across departments, are key components of SEM (Bontrager, 2004; Smith & Gottheil, 2009). Gottheil (2015) argues that, based on her experiences, what has been the most critical factor to successfully incorporating SEM into campuses has been "using SEM as a tool to enhance communication, collaboration, and partnerships" (para. 3). Henderson (2014) argued that all aspects of a university ought to support students' academic success and that all-encompassing division-level collaborative approaches to SEM promote institutional ability to support student success from the prospective student stage through to becoming alumni. However, past research (see Seifert, Arnold, Burrow, & Brown, 2011; Seifert & Burrow, 2013 ) found that focus group participants from across Enrollment Management and student affairs and services differ in how they perceive their unit's contributions to student success and the institution's retention efforts. Given the enormous variation in the day-to-day work of these staff members, this seemed highly plausible. This is despite the importance of a whole-campus approach to SEM (AASCU, 2005, cited in Lingrell, 2014; Gottheil, 2015; Henderson, 2014), in which the campus culture promotes staff members' consistent understanding of and commitment to realizing SEM priorities irrespective of employment area. In this current study, the authors explore how staff members' perceptions of their immediate work unit's retention efforts vary by area of employment.

Directed differentiation from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) has seen significant progress in recent years. However, most differentiated populations exhibit immature properties of an early embryonic stage, raising concerns about their ability to model and treat disease. Here, we report the directed differentiation of hPSCs into medial ganglionic eminence (MGE)-like progenitors and their maturation into forebrain type interneurons. We find that early-stage progenitors progress via a radial glial-like stem cell enriched in the human fetal brain. Both in vitro and posttransplantation into the rodent cortex, the MGE-like cells develop into GABAergic interneuron subtypes with mature physiological properties along a prolonged intrinsic timeline of up to 7 months, mimicking endogenous human neural development. MGE-derived cortical interneuron deficiencies are implicated in a broad range of neurodevelopmental and degenerative disorders, highlighting the importance of these results for modeling human neural development and disease.

Aim: To explore how expectant mothers at risk for preterm birth would like to be involved in decision‐making at the margin of viability and what they would base their decisions on. Methods: This cross‐sectional observational study included a mixed‐methods post‐hoc analysis alongside a previously reported randomised clinical trial. Expectant mothers between 280/7 and 366/7 weeks' gestation who were hospitalised for risk of preterm birth responded to written case vignettes of an impending preterm birth at the margin of viability. Participants responded to closed and open‐ended questions that were theoretically coded for attitudes and values towards shared decision‐making. Results: Sixty‐four expectant mothers were included in the analysis, 36 provided written perspectives. Decision‐making was perceived as an enormous burden and a potential source of guilt and regret. Weighing personal values in terms of 'fighting for the baby' and 'quality of life' were used to inform the decision‐making process. Explicitly stating that any decision is a good decision, empowerment through co‐constructing shared decisions rather than simply presenting choices, sharing the clinicians' personal views, and honest, and empathetic counselling were perceived as supportive. Conclusion: Mothers at risk for preterm birth provided specific insights into their decision‐making patterns that may be helpful to clinicians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]